Do exports cause growth? Some evidence for the new EU members

This article analyses the relationship between international trade and economic growth from the point of view of one of the most traditional hypotheses within this field, namely, the export-led growth hypothesis. To this end, we apply Granger-causality tests, in a cointegration framework, to data on exports and GDP of the eight CEECs that became members of the EU in 2004. The results find some support for the export-led growth hypothesis only in the case of the Czech Republic, while no significant causality in any direction was found in the remaining cases.